This August, South America experienced a deadly heat wave, topping 40˚C in the middle of winter. Flash flooding, wildfires, and oceanic waterspouts are just some examples of what we might call ‘global weirding’ – weird, extreme weather events are becoming the norm.​​​ Many areas, including here in Australia, are at risk of becoming uninsurable. This talk explores new technology that is promising a financial safety net for vulnerable communities who are dealing with these environmental perils. Parametric insurance uses remote sensing technologies, weather stations, and state of the art climate models, to link policies to the weather itself – if […]

"International Law after Ukraine and Gaza" Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and Israel’s never-ending occupation of Palestine, invite soul-searching about the capacity of international law to prevent and remedy violations of its most sacrosanct rules, including the prohibitions on the use of military force and the acquisition of foreign territory by force, the right of self-determination of peoples, international humanitarian law and international human rights law. These examples also expose double standards in the enforcement of international law, where certain groups of states do not practice what they preach about a “rules b based international order” and seem surprised when other […]